so... we met last night for the first time. since it was our first meeting, we didn't have a specific structure but what ended up happening organically (and it seemed to work well) was that each member spoke for about 30 minutes. in that time, she determined what her goal/s is/are, and then, with the help of the other members, she came up with an action plan for the next two weeks. we're working in 2 week chunks since that's how often we'll be meeting. we all felt like one month was too far away and that we might slip up or slack off if we weren't meeting more frequently. every 2 weeks seemed like a good amount of time for all of us to keep on top of our goals.
we also have to email each other between meetings to report on our progress. so, for example, today i had to power walk to the hairdressing store and back, and also stop by the gym to look into the cost of a membership and sessions with a personal trainer (my goal is to get fit and to stay fit). once that was done, i emailed the other girls to tell them. it doesn't sound like a big deal but knowing that i got to/had to tell them about it was surprisingly motivating. what was also motivating was getting emails from the other girls on their progress. not only was i happy for them but it also reminded me that i don't want to be the only one who isn't working on her goal. another motivator is that i keep telling myself that i want to be the kind of person who does what she says she's going to do. for some reason, thinking of that is a good kick in the pants for me.
luckily, there's a gym close to my house and, for $100 a month, i can get a gym membership (which includes classes and everything a gym membership should include) and 12 sessions with a personal trainer. 3 sessions per week for the first 2 weeks. 2 sessions a week for the 3rd and 4th weeks. one session a week for weeks 5 and 6. after that, we'll see where i'm at and figure it out from there. the hardest part for me is getting into it. that's why i wanted a trainer for the first few weeks. hopefully, once i'm into a routine, i'll be motivated enough to do it on my own.
eventually, i'll add on more goals but i'm starting with the hardest one.
if you're interested in starting your own goals group, gretchen rubin (the author of the happiness project) has a starter kit that she'll send you for free. more info on that here.
What a great idea! Often we look for people who have the same goals as us to form a group with... I think it's neat that this group simply has goal-achievement as its collective goal. :) I can see this as being more effective in some ways as there might be less comparing because of the different goals (and thus less potential discouragement).
ReplyDeleteI might just have to check out the link you provided.